Orlando Magic fall on the road again, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks 104-100

Milwaukee Bucks 104, Orlando Magic 100

Milwaukee Bucks 104, Orlando Magic 100

Josh Robbins, Orlando Sentinel

MILWAUKEE — The Orlando Magic just can’t gain any traction on the road.

Not even against the worst team in the NBA.

On Tuesday night, the Magic fouled too often. They committed too many costly turnovers. And they simply didn’t make enough of the small plays that, over the course of a game, make a positive difference.

The Magic lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 104-100 at Bradley Center.

“I can tell you that, to become a good team, you have to win on the road,” point guard Jameer Nelson said. “You have to take care of the little things. We have enough scoring in here. We have enough talent. We just have to take care of the little things.”

The Magic just don’t take care of the little things when they play outside of Central Florida.

They haven’t won a road game since Dec. 16, and they’ve lost their last 13 road games.

“It’s tough,” Magic forward Tobias Harris said. “But we put ourself in that position early in the game getting down.”

The Bucks made 22 of 30 free throws, while the Magic went just nine for 16 from the line.

They took a 97-96 lead when Nelson drove and kicked the ball out to wide-open center Nik Vucevic, who calmly swished a wide-open jumper with 50.1 seconds left.

But the Bucks struck back on their ensuing possession. With the shot clock winding down and the play seemingly in disarray, Nate Wolters used a screen by Ersan Ilyasova to gain some space at the top of the arc. Wolters elevated, released the ball from 27 feet and hit the 3-pointer, putting Milwaukee ahead 99-97 with 29.5 seconds to go.

Wolters pumped his fist.

Until that moment, he had made only seven of his 39 3-point tries all season.

“Certainly that has to be somewhat of a confidence boost for him,” Bucks coach Lary Drew said.

On Orlando’s ensuing possession, Giannis Antetokounmpo intercepted a pass by Arron Afflalo and was fouled by Nelson.

Antetokounmpo made one of two free throws, and Milwaukee was up 100-97 with 17.3 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing play, the Magic freed Afflalo for a 3-pointer. But when Afflalo swung around, he had trouble collecting the ball cleanly.

“I’m not sure if he got a clean catch on it,” Vaughn said. “But [there was] a good screen by Nik and good execution. We got the ball in his hands, and we got a good look.”

The ball wound up in Ilyasova’s hands, and the Magic had no choice but to foul him. Ilyasova made both of his foul shots, extending the Bucks’ lead to 102-97 with 9.6 seconds left.

Early in the game, Caron Butler decimated the Magic with his long-range shooting.

In the first half, Butler made six 3-pointers from almost all areas around the arc.

A trey from the top of the arc put Milwaukee ahead 34-27. A 3 from the right corner extended the lead to 39-29. A 3 from the left corner gave the Bucks a 49-35 advantage — their largest lead of the first half.

But Orlando scored the next 10 points, beginning with a driving layup by Victor Oladipo.

The run continued with a driving layup by Afflalo, a driving layup by Nelson, a jumper by Afflalo and a jumper by Nelson.

Bradley Center doesn’t provide much of a homecourt advantage these days. Vast expanses of the arena’s upper deck were empty Tuesday night, and the Bucks have the worst home record in the NBA, at 6-21. Even the Magic’s mascot, Stuff, performed at the game along with Bango the Buck and other league mascots.

“You have to be focused,” Harris said. “You have to be perfect, basically. You have to be almost perfect, especially on the road in a tight game like that.”

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.